Record Collector's Scores

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For 2,508 reviews, this publication has graded:
  • 51% higher than the average critic
  • 5% same as the average critic
  • 44% lower than the average critic
On average, this publication grades 1.1 points higher than other critics. (0-100 point scale)
Average Music review score: 74
Highest review score: 100 Queen II [Collector's Edition]
Lowest review score: 20 Relaxer
Score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1,666 out of 2508
  2. Mixed: 836 out of 2508
  3. Negative: 6 out of 2508
2508 music reviews
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    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Up [25th Anniversary Edition]
    Up has always deserved more love and, 25 years on, this remastered anniversary edition, which adds an enjoyably relaxed live set, gives us a chance to hear it with new ears.
    • 80 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Theatre of the Absurd Introduces C'est La Vie
    This is breathless in its intensity, an hour-long triumph up there with anything they’ve ever done, tales of the world today united amid the brooding shadows of a Victorian musical hall stage. That’s life, that’s madness… and it truly is the Madness we know and love.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    i/o
    i/o is an impeccable reawakening.
    • 67 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Action Adventure
    He channels snippets into new compositions played over an 808 with some rudimentary vintage synths, evoking memories of his teenage past sitting alongside a radio with fingers tentatively poised on play and record.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    The Roaring Forty 1983-2023
    Not just a compilation, not even just a big compilation, The Roaring Forty is a moving trawl through the life and times of an extraordinary artist who has never stood still.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Diamonds and Pearls [Super Deluxe Edition] [Box Set]
    The bulk of the previously unheard material mainly comprises Prince’s original versions of tunes he gave to other artists. .... D&P showed how Prince could still work his magic while operating in narrower artistic parameters. This wasn’t the grandiose vision of Purple Rain or Sign O’ The Times but rather revealed Prince operating in a new guise, as an artisan who was tuned into the pop and rap zeitgeist.
    • 90 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Joni Mitchell Archives, Vol. 3: The Asylum Years 1972-1975 [Box Set]
    Embryonic versions of …Summer Lawns cuts are especially revealing, rough clay immediately prior to moulding, while the live material plays up her strengths as an easy communicator of often obtuse ideas.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Hackney Diamonds
    The Stones are the Stones; a law and legend unto themselves, with nothing more to prove and no need to compete with the latest crop of young turks who covet the crown but know they’ll never wear it. Hackney Diamonds sparkles brightest when it touches base with bygone precious gems.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Accentuate the Positive
    Accentuate The Positive’s lively mix of swing, jump jive, R&B and classic rock’n’roll constantly plays to the singer’s strengths as a thoughtful, inventive interpreter.
    • 76 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Los Angeles
    There will be few debut records as accomplished or thrilling as Los Angeles in 2023.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Bauhaus Staircase
    It may occasionally sound warmly, comfortingly like the past, but this is an album with its mind fixed firmly on the future.
    • 72 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Danse Macabre
    A mixed (body) bag it may be, but Danse Macabre is a fiendishly fun collection that only the undead would remain unmoved by.
    • 77 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Pearlies
    Anderson says the album’s 10 songs form a loose narrative of journeys and experiences coming to an end, yet at the same time Pearlies points to a bright and fulfilling solo future.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Cousin
    Cosmic art country (Infinite Surprise, Pittsburgh) and skewed power pop (Save Me, Evicted) dominate, but most impressive are Sunlight Ends and A Bowl And A Pudding, moments of experimental beauty at the core of a constantly surprising album.
    • 95 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Who's Next/Life House [Super Deluxe Edition]
    The 1970-71 period was arguably The Who’s, and Pete Townshend’s, most creative, and its celebration is to be welcomed at – almost – any price.
    • 81 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Nothing Lasts Forever
    The country-rock songwriting tones of Tired Of Being Alone and Falling Into The Sun are rich and expansive, the themes of finding comfort and purpose in middle-age – whether through rekindled romance (I Left A Light On, I Will Love You), artificial means (Self-Sedation) or self-reflection (Middle Of My Mind) – ring true, and big emotions continue to be captured, seemingly without effort, on their canvas.
    • 91 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Black Rainbows
    Black Rainbows magnificently roars around garage rock, jazz and even, on Erasure, Black Flag hardcore. Better still, Before The Throne Of The Invisible God is a heavenly soul-psych masterpiece, equally Sly Stone, Prince and Billie Holliday. It’ll continue to uncover fresh layers of magic for years, while being enticing from the off.
    • 88 Metascore
    • 60 Critic Score
    Chrome Dreams
    Throughout the curation of his archives, all but two of these recordings – that slower Sedan Delivery and the regretful Too Far Gone – have already been released elsewhere, across original albums and newly restored collections, making this official Chrome Dreams an exercise in fan service that would have been a worthy Record Store Day title – or, we hope, an indication that the Archives Vol III box set is approaching.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Relentless
    Relentless is a masterly achievement, tasting of truth.
    • 97 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    Suede [30th Anniversary Edition]
    Across the years, the album has often been discussed in terms of its proto-Britpop ‘moment’. But it holds up superbly freed from that context as a deeply distinct and thrillingly flash statement of what Suede do, creating its own world while doing practically everything it can to grab the attention.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Consciousology
    The result is a beguilingly inquisitive album, its meanings and methods nurtured into rich, sun-blushed blooms.
    • 82 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Ones Ahead
    The Ones Ahead is billed as his first collection of new music in nearly 20 years, but it feels no less vital or inventive than his most celebrated work.
    • 68 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    End of World
    The past might be an albatross around Lydon’s neck, but he demonstrates superhuman strength at times, achieving lift-off in a way that nobody was really expecting. If the end of the world is nigh then PiL are going out with a bang.
    • 78 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Feminine Divine
    The second half is a striking electronic makeover: the Baxter Dury-ish title track and the Prince-like S&M cosplay electro-strut of the sultry Goddess Rules are joltingly un-Dexys. If the premise is laid on a bit thick – Rowland never does things by halves – at least torch song My Submission is the most beautiful thing Dexys have ever done.
    • 87 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    My Back Was a Bridge for You to Cross
    The passion in ANOHNI’s voice lifts meandering mid-album cuts Can’t and Scapegoat. But the Marvin Gaye-indebted Why Am I Alive Now is the standout.
    • 85 Metascore
    • 100 Critic Score
    I Inside the Old Year Dying
    With expressive restraint, key collaborators John Parish and Flood utilise instruments and field recordings to tactile effect, while leaving room for Harvey’s voice to resonate. The results hold their folk-horror secrets close and harbour dark suggestions on investigation.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    The Ballad of Darren
    While this is a deeply personal work whose soul-searching recalls the defences-down honesty of Blur’s art-rock masterpiece 13, it’s emphatically not a solo album… Though it could be a duo album. One of the most touching elements of The Ballad Of Darren is hearing Albarn and guitarist Graham Coxon singing together.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Chaos for the Fly
    Lyrically, Chatten’s world is still tumultuous, yet he’s learned to coat it around a romantic, less uptight sound. Hopefully Fontaines D.C. can carry some of these moods forward but, whatever happens, this is a superb interlude.
    • 95 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Smash: The Singles 1985-2020 [Box Set]
    This collection is called Smash for a very good reason.
    • 84 Metascore
    • 80 Critic Score
    Shadow Kingdom
    In the Shadow Kingdom, the smooth seduction of I’ll Be Your Baby Tonight comes out downright lusty, while the jinking melody of It’s All Over Now, Baby Blue ebbs and flows here, seemingly dragged by swollen waves of sound. Some lyrics are subtly changed, others are turned on their head – the devotional To Be Alone With You transformed into something dangerous and desperate (“What happened to me darling, what was it you saw, did I kill somebody, did I escape the law?”).
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